Wet vacuum pumping apparatus



Mar. 6, 1923. 7 1,447,854

I. c. JENNINGS WET VACUUM PUMPING APPARATUS Filed June; 15, 1917 4sheets-sheet Snow H01 Mar. 6, 1923. 1,447,854

I l. C. JENNINGS WET VACUUM PUMPING APPARATUS Filed June 15, 1917 4sheets-sheet 2.

gwueni'oz 6H0: an

Mar. 6, 1923. 1,447,854

I. c. JENNINGS WET VACUUM PUMPING APPARATUS Filed June 15 1917 4sheets-sheet 5 gwuenf o1,

zm M 251 atfoumq Mar. 6, 1923.- 1,447,854 I. C. JENNINGS WET VACUUMPUMPING APPARATUS Filed June 15, 19].? 4= sheets-sheet 4 III!!! Patenteder. 6, 1923..

1,7,854 orrica.

IRVING C. JENNINGS, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO NASHENGI- 'NEERING COMPANY, OF SOUTH NOBWALK, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OFCONNECTICUT.

Application filed June 15, 1917. Serial No. 774,958.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IRVING C. JENNINos, acitizen of the United States, residing at South N orwalk, county ofFairfield, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Wet' Vacuum Pumping Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to a wet vacuum pumping apparatus. The object ofthe invention is to provide an apparatus in which the air and water areseparated and the air exhausted by means of a pump and deliv-' ered intothe atmosphere, the water being withdrawn by a separate pump anddischarged against any desired pressure. Automatic means may be providedwhereby the operation of the pumps is controlled according to the vacuumor the quantity of water returned or by both. Other objects and featuresof the invention will be apparent from the description taken inconnection with the drawings in which:

Figure-1 is a plan view of one embodiment,

of my apparatus,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the parts shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation through the centrifugal water pumptaken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 5.

Flgure 5. is a longitudinal sectional view of the pumping unit takensubstantially on the line 5-5 of Figures 4 and 6.

Figure 6 is a sectional elevation of the hydro-turbine air pump takensubstantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a view in elevation showing a modified arrangement of themeans for controlling the operation of the pumps.

Fi re 8 is'a sectional detail taken substantially on the line 88 ofFigure 6 illustrating the construction for relieving the impeller of thecentrifugal pump from end thrust.

Figure-9 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the electric circuit havingthe motor and the float operated and pressure operated switches therein.

Briefly stated my apparatus comprises a, receiver into which the returnsof air and water are discharged, the water collecting in the bottom andthe air in the upper por WET VACUUM PUMPING AIPPARATUS.

tion of the receiver. A pumping unit is provided which comprises acentrifugal water pump and a hydro-turbine air pump. The latter isconnected to the top of the receiver to exhaust the air from the sameand dischargeit into the atmosphere. The water pump 1s connected to thelower portion of the receiver and withdraws the water-from. l

the latter and discharges it where desired.

Means is provided whereby the operation of the water pump is controlledby the quantity of water in the receiver and the operation of the airpump .is controlled by the air pressure in the receiver. Thus if thequantity of Water in the receiver exceeds 4 a certain amount the waterpump will be started and will operate to pump out the water from thereceiver until the quantity therein has been reduced to a predeterminedamount. Likewise if the air pressure within the receiver exceeds apredetermined amount the a1r pump will be set in o eration to therebyexhaust the airand re uce the pressure to a deslred amount.

I have shown an embodiment of my apparatus which is particularly adaptedfor vacuum steam heating service having a di rect return system. In thissystem air and other non-condensable gases must be removed from thepiping in order to maintain a vacuum and at the same time the hotcondensate must be freed from air and deliver ed to the steam boiler.Although an apparatus of this type has been described it will beapparent that'the apparatus is adapted for any service where it isrequired that both air and water either hot or cold must be handledunder a vacuum.

Referring to the drawings, the returns 10 from the heating system areconnected so as to discharge throughv a strainer 11 into the upperportion of the receiver or tank 12. Either or both of these returns maybe used, the flow in the same being controlled by the valves 13 and 14:.In case it is not desired to use the apparatus, the returns may bedischarged into a connection 15 to the sewer, the flow into this latterpipe being controlled by the valves 16 and 16'. The tank 12 which may bemounted-Qua support or base 17 is provided at the top thereof with anair outlet pi e 18 which is connected to a header 19. s shown thisheader extends parallel with the tank andat each side of the T '24 whichat its lower end is connected to the air inlet of the air pump ofanother pumping unit 25.

I have shown an apparatus provided with two independent pumping units soconnected with the receiver thateither or both of the units may beoperated. As these units are duplicates of one another it will suii'iceto describe one of them, and this will be done more in detailhereinafter.

The water inlet 26 of the water pump of the unit '23 is connected to aheader 27, which in turn is connected by means of a pipe 28 with one endofthe receiver at a slight distance above the bottom thereof, whereby acertain quantity of water is always present in the receiver. The header27 is also connected with the water inlet of the water pump of the unit25, the valves 29 and 30 being provided in the header to control theflow of water to the different pumping units.

The air from the air pump of unit 23 is discharged through a riser 31, acheck valve 32, through a separator 33 into a header 34 which dischargesinto the atmosphere through the outlet 35. The separator 33 is providedfor the purpose of collecting any water which may be in the airdischarged from the pump and returning the water thus collected into thereceiver. In order to auto-- matically return this water into thereceiver the separator 33 is provided with a float controlled valve 36through which the water passes from the separator 33 into the line 37leading to the receiver. It will be apparent that when suflicient waterhas collected in the receiver 33 to raise the floatthat the valve 36will be opened and as the pressure in the discharge line of the pump isgreater than that within the receiver, the Water will be forced throughthe valve 36 and line 37 into the tank 12. The valve 32 is provided toprevent the return or influx of air when the air pump is not inoperation. The pumping unit 25 discharges the air from the air pumpthrough a riser 38, a check valve'39, and separator 40 into the header34.

1 The water pump of the unit 23 discharges through the outlet 41 into aheader 42 which by means of a pipe 43 may be connected to the steamboiler. A check valve 44 is pro vided in this line to prevent the returnof water into the pump and a stop valve 45 is arranged in the headerbetween the check valve 44 and the pipe 4.3. The outlet 46 of thepumping unit 25 is connected in a like manner with the pipe '43 leadin.to the boiler. The pumping unit 23 is a apted to be driven through adirect connection by means of a motor 47 and the motor and pumping unitmay be mounted on a base 48 if desired. In a similar manner the pumpingunit 25 is driven by a motor 47 and this latter motor and the pumpingunit 25 may be mounted on a similar base 48.

In the operation of the hydro-turbine air pump some water is entrainedin the air and carried away with the air discharged from the pump.Consequently it is necessary to supply this air pump with a certainamount of make-up water. For thus purpose. I have shown a pipe 49 whichis connected to the tank 12 at a. point below the connection of the pipe28 which leads to the water pump. As the level of the water in the tankis always above the point of connection of the pipe 49, there willalways be a supply of water for this pipe. The connection for the waterfeed to the air pump is shown at 50 and the size of opening of thisconnection is controlled by a plug 51, the connection 5!) being joinedto the header 52 which in turn is connected to the pipe 49. The otherend of the header 52 is arranged to supply the air pump of the unit 25with make-up water in the same manner as the unit 23. It will be obviousthat the quantity of make-up water depends upon the size of the orifice103 in the plug 51 .(see Figure 8). lit will be noted that the head ofWater on the orifice 103 due to the level of the Water in the receiveris substantially constant and consequently. a. uniform supply of make upwater will be delivered to the air pump, irrespective of the pressure orvacuum maintained by the pump.

The operation of the pumps may be controlled by regulating switches 53and 60 of conventional design. The switch 53 may be operatedautomatically to correspond with the quantity of water in the receiver.For this purpose the float 54 of the open bucket type is arranged withinthe receiver and arranged to rotate a rock shaft 55 through the arm 56.the rock shaft extending through the wall of the receiver, the endoutside of the tank having mounted thereon a lever 57 having a weight 58on one end thereof and the other end projecting to the opposite side ofthe rock shaft 55 and adapted to operate the switch 53 through the link59. The arrangement is such that when the water within the receiverrises to a predetermined point the float 54 will lose sufficient weightso that the shaft 55 will be operated, thus starting the motor 47 andthe pumping unit. The water will then be withdrawn from the receiveruntil the float 54 falls to a point where the switch 53 is againoperated to cut off the supply f energy to the motor. Thus the operationof the water pump is connew-pea trolled by the quantity of water in thereceiver. In a similar manner the pressure of the air within thereceiver or heating system may be used to control the operation of theair pump. For this purpose adiaphragm controlled switch 60 ofconventional design may be connected with the air tank by means of apipe 61 and the switch arranged to control the operation of the motor.When the air pressure within the tank exceeds a certain amount, 'theswitch 60 will be thrown to supply the. motor with energy, thus startingthe air pump, which will continue to perate until the pressure has beenreduced to such an amount that the diaphragm switch 60 will be thrownout, thereby cutting off the supply .of energy to the motor. It isobvious that this means for controlling the air and water pumps may beworked at different times or simultaneously.

I will now proceed to describe one of the pumping units. Referring toFigures 4, 5 and 6, the pumps are housed within a casing 70, the airpump being arranged at the right andthe water pump at the left thereofas viewed in Figure 5. The casing 70. is provided at the ends thereofwith the roller bearings 71 and 72 in which is supported the shaft 73,which carries the rotors for both the pumps. The impeller 74 of theWater pump is mounted on the shaft in position to rotate within'thewater casing 75 and this impeller is provided with water inlet openings76 which lead from the water inlet chamber 77 which is supplied throughthe pump inlet connection 7 8. The discharge from the water pump isshown at 79.

The rotor 80 of the air pump is mounted on the shaft 73 with a slidingfit, the hearing 71 being arranged to take any end thrust that may comeupon the shaft. This rotor 80 is arranged within an elliptical casing 81carried within the main casing 70. The elliptical casing 81 is closed atthe inlet side of the air pump by the side piece 82 and on the dischargeside of the pump by the discharge piece 83. The side piece 82 is formedwith two diametrically opposite inlet openings 84 and the side 83 isformed with two diametrically opposite outlet openings 85. As theselatter openings would not appear in Figure 6, they are shown dottedtherein. The air for the air pump is fed through the inlet opening 86formed in the casing 70 into the space 104 around the elliptical casing81 and it then passes through the inlet opening 84 into the pump. Thispump is supplied with Water which when the impeller is rotated, due tothe centrifugal force assumes the ring form shown in Figure 6. Air fedin through the inlets 84 will thus fill the space between the blades ofthe impeller and the inside surface of the water. As the impellerrotates and approaches the outlet openings 85 this space will becomesmaller as the inside surface of the water approaches the hub of theimpeller, thus furcin air out through the outlets 85 and into thedischarge conduit 87. It will be obvious in the operation of this airpump that the air will carry along with it some water and as previouslystated it is necessary to supply this air pump with water to make up forthat entrained in and carried off by the air. One means for doing thishas already been described. In Figure 5 another means for accomplishingthis result is shown. The casing 75 of the water turbine pump is shownas formed with a port 88 at one side of the hub of the impeller. Thuswater which leaks by this hub will pass through the port 88 and supplythe air pump with the necessary make up water. The hydro-turbine pump isdescribed more in deiaill in Patent 1,091,529 granted March 31,

It will be observed that there is no stuffing box between the air pumpand the water pump. This construction is made possible because of thepressure relief afforded by the pipe 49 leading to the receiver. Thus itis possible to do away with the objectionable stufiing box in theinterior of the pumping unit. The construction for relieving the chamber100 in the impeller, of pressure, and supplying the air pump with makeup water is shown in the detail view Fig. 8. The water is supplied fromthe receiver through pipe 49, header 52 and connection 50, this latterpipe communicating with conduit 102 formed in the interior wall of thecentrifugal casing. This conduit has its inner end opening to chamber100 in the impeller. Consequently any leakage which may flow to thischamber from the impeller blades is immediately relieved through theconduit 102. The make-up water for the air pump flows through orifice103 in the plug 51 into the chamber 104 around the elliptical casi ng ofthe air pump, the orifice being made of the correct size to supply theproper quantity of water.

In the operation of my apparatus the first returns through the pipes 10flow into the receiver 12 and the water flows through the pipe 49 tosupply the air pump. When the level of water in the receiver rises abovethe entrance to pipe 28 water will flow into the centrifugal water pumpand the air therein will be displaced, being driven out through the pipe188 which is connected into the pipe 19. Thus when the switch 53 isoperated by the float 54 the pumps will be started and the centrifugalwater pump will immediately discharge water to supply the boiler and theair pump will operate to exhaust the air from the receiver, thusreducing the pressure within the latter. In case the water with' thereceiver is pumped out to the required level and the air pump continuesto operate it will take practically no power to rotate the impeller ofthe centrifugal pump as no water is supplied to the latter and it thusbecomes airbound. \Vhen the air within the receiver has been exhaustedtothe required reduced pressure, the diaphragm switch will be operatedto throw off the supply of energy to the motor. Thus the pumps willcease to operate. a

It is desirable to use a centrifugal water pump of such asize that itwill have a capacity greater than the amount of liquid to be handled atany time. Thus the receiver whenever the pumps are operated will havethe water removed therefrom quickly and promptly before the air has beenexhausted to the desired pressure. Consequently the centrifugal pumpalthough rotated will do no work and take but little power.

Figure 7 shows another construction for automatically controlling); theoperation of the pumps. In this an tngement a single diaphragm switch 90of con entional design is connected to the receiver or tank 91 near thebottom thereof by means of a pipe 92. Thus the action of the switch iscontrolled by the water or air pressure or both. For example, assumethat the diaphragm is set to operate the switch and start the pump whenthe vacuum drops below 7 inches of mercury and stop the pump when thevacuum reaches 10 inches of mercury and further assume that the pump hasjust been stopped because the vacuum of 10 inches has been reached. Nowwhile the vacuum remains at 10 inches the receiver begins to fill upwith water. When approximately three feet of water has accumulated inthe receiver 91, a pressure equal to three inches of mercury is producedat the diaphragm switch due to the height of water and in addition tothe air pressure. The vacuum at the switch therefore is now 7 inches,which causes the switch to operate, thus starting the pump whichcontinues to work until the water in the receiver has been reduced tothe level of the pump intake pipe or until the combined water and airpressure is equivalent to 10 inches of mercury. It will thus be apparentthat in this form of the controller the diaphragm switch takes the placeof the bucket float controlling means and the diaphragm switchillustrated in connection with the previously described embodiment ofthe invention.

As the power consumption of the pumps is relatively small and as thecentrifugal water pump is unloaded when not handling water, theautomatic starter may be dispensed with if desired. In installationswhere a centrifugal pump has been used as a boiler feed pump, it hasbeen found very often that whenthe boiler pressure exceeds the pressureagainst which the pump will discharge that the impeller will churnretrace through the water without discharging it thereby heating andconverting the water into steam which causes a back pressure in the feedline. as boiler feed pumps have not beensuccessful. It will be observedthat in connection with my apparatus that this condition of affairscannot happen as the centrifugal pump discharges into the boilerjonlythe returns from the heating system and afterthe water in the receiverhas been reduced to the required level the centrifugal pump becomesairbound and continues to rotate merely churning air instead of water.This is a very important feature of my apparatus and is one of thereasons why control may be dispensed with.

Although I have described a specific arrangement of the receiver, pumpsand piping, it is very apparent that my inventlon Consequently turbinepumpsan automatic is not limited to the particular embodiment shown anddescribed but that the details thereof may be varied within wide limits,the only requirement being that there shall be a receiver for thereturns, a water pump and an air pump each separately taking itsrespective fluid from the'receiver.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Pate-nt is:

1. A water and air pumping apparatus for use in a vacuum steam heatingsystem comprising a receiver for air and water, a pump for withdrawingWater from said receiver and a hydro-turbine pump forwithdrawing airfrom said receiver, and means for supplying said latter pump with makeup water from water in the system.

2. The combination with the separating chamber of a vacuum steam heatingsystem, of a rotary gas pump employing water for its pumping action andhaving a. rotor provided with displacement chambers, said pump beingconnected and operating to exhaust the gas from the system by thesuction and displacement action of the water in said chambers, andawater pump connected and operating to withdraw water of condensationfrom the separating chamber.

3. The combination with the separating chamber of a vacuum steam heatingsystem, of a rotary gas pump employing water for its pumping action andhaving a rotor provided with displacement chambers, said pump beingconnected and operating to exhaust the gas from the system by thesuction and displacement action of the water in said chambers and toretain all the water in the system, and a water pump connected andoperating to circulate the water of condenvsation back to the boiler.

vided with displacement chambers, said pump being connected andOperating to ex-' haust the gas from the system by the suction anddisplacement action of the water in said chambers, connections forsupplying the gas pump with water for its operation from the system, anda water'pump connected and operating to withdraw water of condensationfrom the chamber.

sation from the separating chamber, the

connection between the water pump and the separating chamber being at ahigher level than the connection between the gas pump and the separatingchamber, whereby the gas pump will contain its operating water and willcontinue in operation when the water pump has exhausted the water in theseparating chamber down to the level of itsconnection therewith.

6. An apparatus for use in connection with the return main or mains of avacuum steam heating system comprising a gas pump for exhausting the gasfrom the system, a water pump for withdrawing the water of condensation,and connections for relieving the water pump from gas.

7 A water and air pumping system comprising a receiver for air andwater, a pump for withdrawin air from the receiver and a second pump orwithdrawing water therefrom, and means for controlling the operation ofsaid pumps governed by the pressure and amount of water in saidreceiver.

8. A water and air pumping system comprising a receiver'for air andwater, a pump for withdrawing water from said receiver, a second pumpseparately connected to said receiver for withdrawing air therefrom, andmeans for controlling the operation of said pumps governed by thepressure and amount of water 1n said receiver.

9. A liquid and gas pumping apparatus including in combination, areceiver for liquid and gas, an electricmotor, a pumping unit comprisinga liquid pump and a gas exhausting pump connected to be o-perated bysaid motor, said pumps being disposed at a lower elevation than thenormal level of water in said receiver and having their inlets incommunication with the receiver, a switch controlling the operation ofsaid motor and means to actuate said switch governed by the amount ofliquid in the re-- celver.

10. A liquid and gas pumping apparatus including in combination, areceiver for liquid and gas, an electric motor, a liquid pump and a gasexhausting pump connected to'be operated by said motor and disposed at alower elevation than the normal water level in said receiver, saidpump-s having their inlets in communication with the receiver, a switchcontrolling the operation of said motor and means-to actuate said switchgoverned by the pressure in'the receiver, said liquid pump being of alarger capacity than necessary to handle the liquid if run continuously.

11. A liquid and gas pumping apparatus including in combination, areceiver for liquid and gas, an electric motor, a liquid pump and a gasexhausting pump connected to be operated by said'motor, said pumpshaving their inlets in communication with the receiver, a break in theelectric circuit to the motor, and means to close said break when thepressure or quantity of liquid in the receiver exceed predeterminedamounts.

12. A water and gas pumping apparatus for use in a vacuum steam heatingsystem including in combination, a receiver for water and gas, a pumpfor'withdrawing the water from the receiver, a hydro-turbine pump forexhausting gas from the receiver,

and means to supply the hydro-turbine pump with make-up water from waterin the receiver.

13, A liquid and gas pumping apparatus including in combination, arecelver for the liquid and gas, a centrifugal pump for withdrawing theliquid from the receiver disposed at a lower elevation thanthe normallevel of water in the receiver, said pump having a liquid pipeconnecting its suction chamber with the receiver and a gas pipeafi'ording communication between the top of the suction chamber and thetop. of the receiver,.for the purpose set forth.

14. A liquid and gas pumping apparatus including in combination, areceiver for the liquid and gas, a centrifugal pump for withdrawingliquid from said receiver disposed at a lower elevation than the normallevel of water in said receiver, a rotar pump directly connected withsaidicentri ugal pump to exhaust (gas from said receiver, and a gas pipeprovi ing communication between the top of the suction chamber of thecentrifugal pump and the top of the receiver, for the purpose set forth.

15. A liquid and gas pumping apparatus 16. A liquid and gas pumpingapparatus for use in a vacuum steam heating system including incombination, a receiver for liquid and gas, a centrifugal pump forwithdrawing liquid from said receiver, a liquidturbine gas pump toexhaust gas from said receiver, means to supply said gas pump withmake-up liquid and means to separate out liquid from the gas dischargedby the gas pump and return it to the receiver.

17. A liquid and gas pumping apparatus including in combination, areceiver for liquid and gas, a liquid and gas exhausting pump, eachhaving their inlets connected to the receiver, the gas pump being of thehydro-turbine type and disposed at an elevation below the normal waterlevel in the receiver, and a conduit extending from the re ceiver belowsaid water level to the gas pump to supply make-up water.

18. A liquid and gas pumping apparatus including in combination, areceiver for liquid and gas, a pumping unit comprising a liquid and agas exhausting pump each having their inlets connected to the receiver,

the gas pump being of the hydro-turbine aeeaeaa type andth liquid pumpbeing of a capacity greater than necessary to handle the liquid it runcontinuously, said unit being disposed at an elevation below the normalwater level in the receiver, a conduit extending from the receiver belowsaid water level to the gas pump to supply make-up Water and means tocontrol the operation of said pumps in accordance with the amount ofliquid in the receiver.

19. A liquid and gaspumping apparatusincluding in combination, areceiver for liquid and gas, a pumping unit comprising a i liquid pumpand a as exhausting pump, the gas pump being oi: the hydro-turbine typeand the liquid pump being of the turbine type, said unit being disposedat an elevation below the normal water level in the receiver, a conduitextending from the receiver below said water level to the gas pump tosupply make-up water, and a gas pipe providing communication between thetop of the suction chamber of'the liquid pump and the top of thereceiver.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. IRVING C. JENNINGS.

